23/09/2005
NEWS STORY
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The inaugural A1 GP Championship got underway at Brands Hatch today, with the two free practice sessions taking place in varying conditions.
Though conditions for the first session were overcast, it remained dry, allowing the 25 drivers to settle in, however, in the second session it was a case of wet, wet, wet.
Both sessions featured a number of red flags, with the second session eventually being cut short.
For the most part the drivers dealt with the differing conditions - which is highly impressive considering the amount of real track time some of them have had - while others seemed slightly overwhelmed.
Team USA's Scott Speed, who dominated the recent test at Paul Ricard, was in fine form in the first session, posting the best time (1:16.516). However, Brazil, France and Britain were all within a second of the red, white and blue car.
Behind this leading group the competition is extremely close, with Malaysia, Australia, Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, Mexico, New, Zealand, Germany and Canada, all covered by less than a second.
With (Minardi third driver) Enrico Toccacelo having had no previous experience in the car, it was to be expected that Team Italy would be at the wrong end of the timesheets, however, the pre-season pace - or lack of it - of Teams China and Russia is clear evidence of the vast (experience) gap that many had expected. That said, it is refreshing to see so many teams battling in the midfield.
Team India's Karun Chandhok completed only two laps in the first session, and none in the second, following a crash with Team Netherlands's Jos Verstappen at Druids Hairpin.
The Indian had allowed the Australian car through, but clearly failed to see the orange car directly behind it. As Verstappen went to go through on the inside, Chandhok turned into him, launching the Indian's car into the air. It was a spectacular accident - bringing out one of the many red flags - and meant that Team India failed to appear in the second session.
Teams China and Russia both had problems, with Alexey Vasiliev causing another red flag when he collided with Team Ireland's Michael Devaney.
The second session took place in entirely different conditions, with heavy rain soon sorting the men from the youths.
Nelson Piquet Jr posted the best time of the day, however, his session came to an early end when his car overheated in the Team Brazil garage. Nonetheless, he was delighted with the overall performance: "We were a bit unlucky because we had some problems in the first practice session," said the Brazilian, "but it was no disadvantage as I was fastest in the second session.
"We don't have any major problems and the team is working well but it really is too early to tell how quick we are going to be," he admitted. "I think qualifying and the Sprint race will say a lot about this weekend. It could be the true pointer for how the weekend is going to be. Obviously it is equal for everybody so it is good to be quick early on however I have a good history on this track as I have raced here on the long track in Formula 3 and won."
Team Great Britain's Robbie Kerr was second quickest, ahead of Team Portugal's' Alvaro Parente. However, one of the stars of the session was Pitpass contributor Stephen Simpson in the South Africa car, a driver who has always admitted his passion - and skill - for wet weather racing.
Several drivers span off in the atrocious conditions, causing several red flags, however, it was Team Russia's Nikolay Fomenko who appeared to have the most problems, spinning off twice, on the second occasion hitting the tyre barriers at Stirling's Bend. Moments later, Team Germany's Adrian Sutil went off at the same corner, narrowly missing the Russian car.
The session was brought to an early close when Team Australia's Christian Jones went off at Druids and hit the tyre barrier.
Brazil, Great Britain and Portugal were covered by less than a second, with South Africa, France, Canada, Ireland, USA, Germany and Switzerland, very much the best of the rest.
At the end of the day, Scott Speed commented: "I'm quite happy with the way things have come together considering it has all been put together very fast and obviously it is quite encouraging to start a new season so quick.
"I last raced on this Grand Prix track in 2003 but I might as well have come to a new circuit as I didn't remember any of it!" he admitted. "It's not so complicated actually but the car is quite a handful especially if you want to drive it at the absolute limit. It is quite easy to get 90 per cent out of it but the last 10 per cent is quite difficult. We have a very strong dry set up but we struggled a bit in the wet for a few reasons and we are hoping to sort that out for Sunday if it rains."
"It has been a tricky day but it has gone well so we have to be happy," added Britain's Robbie Kerr. "We are still learning about the car so have changed it quite a bit but the good thing is that we are going in the right direction.
"We have been working together now as a team for about a month and a half but in reality we have only worked together for five days so I am even happier about how well it is all coming together. Even though it is my home race, there are a lot of drivers here who know the track better than I do. I love Brands, I think it is a brilliant track and after talking to some drivers who had never been here before, after the first session they told me they loved the place. It is a brilliant venue to start the first A1 in the world."
"The second session was much better than the first," admitted Team Ireland's Michael Devaney. "The first was all about learning my way around the track and it was a bit frustrating to lose 10 or 15 minutes as a result of the collision with the Russian car. But we recovered well and it actually felt a lot better in the wet. The wet weather tyres give huge amounts of grip and I could swear I was actually quicker in some corners than in the dry! We have completed quite a few laps now and it's given me confidence ahead of tomorrow. It's been a fantastic experience to be out there with the full A1GP field and good to see such a high level of competition."
"It was quite good in the wet," added Team Canada's Sean McIntosh. "The car's fantastic - far more downforce than anything I've ever driven. Overall it's been a good day and now we're ready for tomorrow whether it's wet or dry on the track.
"It's going to be difficult to race," he admitted, "the track seems so narrow but it should be fun. I'm still trying to get my head round the track a bit. Tomorrow is really the time to fine-tune my driving and the car. It's been much more challenging than Silverstone but much more rewarding."
Happiest man on the day however, was series founder Sheikh Maktoum, who said: "We had an interesting day and saw a lot of action in two very different sessions.
"It is obviously early days but I'm very happy with what I have seen. I think the 25 teams have put on a professional show, which looked impressive on television. We are also delighted that the fans turned up to watch the track action here today and know from ticket sales that we will get a big crowd on Sunday."
Session 1 Times
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